Before the Page Turns - Chapter 3

Every time I’ve read the story of Joseph in the past, the focus has always been on the high positions he rises to wherever he arrives. We see his rise in Potiphar’s house, in prison, and then finally to second in command of Egypt. As we read these stories, it is easy to miss the richness of human emotion.

When we find Joseph in dark places where things seem grim, the page turns and life is quickly looking up. We miss that while in Potiphar’s house he must wrestle with what his brothers have done to him. He was the favored son and now he is a slave. He stays in prison for several years after being forgotten by the cup bearer and baker. What is going through Joseph’s mind during that time? Do you think he spends much time daydreaming about his brothers bowing down before him? Even when he is second in command of Egypt, he is still away from his father and his promise.

While Joseph’s character flaws are many, what does it take to remain faithful through these dark times he went through? God worked through the mess of Joseph’s situation for the good of their family. Looking back over his life, Joseph saw where God used his mess for good. Last week in my email, I talked about how God has worked through my brother’s mess to bring him to a position where he is leading a church in prison. How have you seen God work through the messes in your life? What do you do to keep faith as you live life before the page turns and all gets better?
 

God Builds a Nation - Chapter 2

Adam and Eve reached for the one things they didn’t have in the Garden: Independence from God. We saw the brokenness of creation come into view as the Image bearers of God tried to become God themselves. God refuses to abandon His creation. For the sake of relationship, He works with people to redeem His creation. These people are also part of the problem. God has a clear path for how He would go about fixing things but He chose to work through messed up people. The story isn’t always as clean as it should be. What does this tell you about God? What does this tell you about relationship with God?

God chooses Abraham and gives him three promises. What are they? How is the third promise supposed to play out (Don’t say Jesus just yet)? God makes promises to Abraham and they enter a covenant relationship together. The central focus of the relationship with Abraham is the same as with Adam…and really the same with us as well. Will Abraham trust that God will take care of him? How do you see Abraham trusting/not trusting God?

Was Abraham actually going to sacrifice Isaac? Had he sacrificed Isaac, how did Abraham reason that God would come through on His promise? How does this parallel with Jesus in the garden before being crucified? What kind of faith did it take for Jesus to go to the cross? What is something you need to sacrifice?

What does it tell you about God that He would allow Jacob to steal Esau’s birthright? Is that what God wanted for that situation?

Has there been a time in your life when you knew you weren’t doing what was right but you can look back and see how God used that situation? I see this a lot in my brother. Kris walked a very dark path. He chose that path on his own. God did not send him down that dark path. Now, after a decade in prison, he helps lead a church in prison and has helped change the lives of several his fellow inmates. This is not the story God had written for him but you can see where God has met Kris where he is and worked with him. We have an incredible God who looks at the mess we’ve made of our lives and continually says, “I can work with this!”
 

The Beginning of Life as We Know It - Chapter 1

Sunday morning in Bible class, I talked a little bit about the nature of sin and what exactly Adam and Eve were reaching for when they reached for the fruit on the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. They reached for the one thing they didn't have: independence from God. What we will see throughout the rest of the story is the struggle of God's creation to live a life in dependency on Him. 

Genesis begins with this moving poem depicting the power of God. Stop for a moment and make two columns with 1, 2, 3 on one side and 4, 5, 6 on the other. Write down what happens on each day of creation. What pattern do you notice? God creates large spaces in the first three days and then fills them in the next three. What does this say about God? More specifically, what does this say to Israel about God? What does it say to Israel, who are surrounded by all of the Egyptian gods, about YHWH, the God who created everything? It says that Ra, the Sun-god of Egypt, didn't come along in creation till day 4...our God is bigger than your god! All of the gods of the ancient world would find their place (if they even exist) within a creation that our God spoke into existence. 

Genesis begins with a dramatic announcement that YHWH, God, is and always will be number one! You then see Adam and Eve take that relationship for granted, reaching for the fruit, and taking hold of independence from the one who loves them most. The mirror turns and you see in your own life where you fail to stand in awe of the God who spoke all things into existence and then turn to reach for the ability to grasp and provide for your own security. Diving deeper into independence from God, doing it all on your own, is what drives you further away from the Garden, not what draws you deeper into the Garden.

What do you need to let go of right now that you're reaching for? What habits do you need to develop that will fill you with God and draw you deeper into the Garden?

Still Meaningless

While I was in Grad School working on my Masters in Divinity at Oklahoma Christian, one of my professors had me teach a two part class to his Christian Family undergrad class. I titled the class "Identity Crisis in the Adolescent and Mid Life Stages." Think about it... While your teenager is trying to figure out who they are, what their identity is, the parent is most likely going through their midlife crisis, trying to figure out how they got where they are and why life isn't better. What you end up with is a household of people who have no idea who they are, who each other is, and cannot figure out why everyone else in the house is crazy. 

"Midlife Crisis" occurs when one reaches their middle age of life and realizes a few things about their life: they aren't as far along in their job as they had hoped, their body isn't as young as it used to be, their kids are as "good" as they thought they would turn out, or just the reality that their children have left the house and the parent is "no longer needed," the reality of their mortality becomes more apparent, etc. In short, when the core of who you are is seeded in your work, your physicality, your position as parent, or anything else, you will find that your grasp on your identity wanes and you go into crisis. 

When your identity is centered on Christ and Christ alone, your sense of self will never come into question. This message permeates the New Testament. 1 Peter is all about where your citizenship is. Ephesians is about about your identity in the Family of God. The Gospels constantly show Jesus challenging the establishments of His day. Take a moment to read Romans 6:1-11 and reflect on what it means to "be raised with Christ" in the resurrection. What does it mean to be raised to New Life? As we go through The Story this year together, look for the continual narrative of God reminding His people of the rest that they find in His presence. When you rest in the solid foundation of your identity as God's People, you will have peace! Anything else you chase after is meaningless!

“If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.” 
C.S. Lewis 

Meaningless

Meaningless 

I’ve read through and reflected on Ecclesiastes this week in preparation for Sunday’s sermon. For the most part, it felt like someone was holding my head under water till the bubbles quit coming up and then they would pull me up for air. If you’re feeling a bit too good about life, take a moment to read through Ecclesiastes. You’ll come down off your high quickly.

Meaningless, meaningless…utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless! This isn’t the best way to start a journal entry. I look at the stack of books next to me and the knowledge I’ve gained and realize that I’m just going to die like the guy who didn’t read those books. I see a picture of a mountain I’ve climbed and Ecclesiastes has the mountain looking at me a laughing. Whether I live or die means nothing to that mountain. I’ll be dead in a handful of decades and the mountain will still be there. The fact that I climbed it…meaningless! You’ve traveled to distant countries. Acquired great sums of wealth. Experienced all the pleasures that life can bring. Meaningless! All of it!

Ecc 2:24-26; 5:18-20 – Here is the point of all the meaninglessness the teacher goes on about in Ecclesiastes: When God is at the center, all things, including the work you set out to do, all things become meaningful.

Each one of us has multiple stories playing out in our lives and we hope they will find a happy ending. The reality is, all stories are meaningless unless they are centered in God’s Story. We begin our journey through The Story this coming week. My prayer for you is that you will find your story within God’s Story so that God’s Story becomes your story. God has written a beautiful narrative and He invites you to join Him in what He’s doing in the world.

"You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you."

St Augustine

New Year's Day Reflections

Early Christian worship would have looked a lot different than it does today. They met in homes (Acts 12:12), in the temple courts (Acts 2:46), in the synagogue (Acts 17:10), in the catacombs (late 2nd Century), under a tree, other public spaces, etc. Places of worship weren’t built till early in the 3rd Century. Christians haven’t always sat in pews, facing forward, following an “order of worship.” Worship took on many different forms in the early centuries of the church. One of the major practices found in the early church was the agape feast, or love feast. You can find references to these love feasts in different parts of scripture. 2 Peter 2:13 and Jude 12 reference the love feast and 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 paints a picture of the Lord’s Supper being a bigger meal in the Corinthian church. The Lord’s Supper was central to these Love Feasts and central to the identity of the Church.

This Sunday, we will begin the New Year with a meal together to remind us of our common story and identity in Christ. I am excited about what 2017 has in store for our congregation as we grow together as Family. Here are some passages to reflect on as you prepare to break bread with your Brothers and Sisters on Sunday.

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1 Corinthians 10:16-17; 23-24

• What does it mean to participate in the blood of Christ?
• What does it mean to participate in the body of Christ?
• What does it mean for us as a congregation to take this meal together?
• Be thinking of people in our congregation that you need to focus on building a relationship with this year. Pray for your relationship with that person(s) to be shaped through your common relationship with Christ and His Church this year.

 1 Peter 1:13-25

• What does it mean to “Be holy in all you do”? How does/should participating in the Lord’s Supper help you do that each week?
• When God says, “Be holy, because I am holy,” what is the purpose of our holiness?
• Who benefits from this holiness?
• What does this have to do with the purpose of the church in the world?
• What does it mean to, “live as foreigners here…” (v. 17)?
• How does participating in the Lord’s Supper remind us of our citizenship?
• Where does our citizenship come from? (Draw focus to the blood of Christ)
• Take a moment to examine the areas of your life where you put faith in “perishable things” (v. 18) instead of the “precious blood of Christ” (v. 19). Ask God to expose those areas of your life in this next year through your participation in the Lord’s Supper.

Reflection

• Where have you seen God work in your life in 2016?
• Where have you seen God work in our church in 2016?
• What is a personal goal for your walk with God?
• What is a goal you have for your family as you walk with God together?
• What is a goal you have for your involvement in the Queen City Church Family?

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone is having some wonderful family time this week. Take time to be thankful as you spend time with those you love. While we are often reminded of the chaos of this world, the birth of Christ reminds us that God has already begun his revolutionary work the bring the world back to right. He does things differently than the broken world does. There's a group called "The Bible Project" who make videos to help explain the books of the Bible and their themes. They just produced this video on Luke 1-2. While the world looked for a king, God sent a baby. While the priests are looking to make proclamation, it is shepherds who bring the Good News! God is turning things on their head and He's called His Church to join Him! Merry Christmas!

Christmas Day Service

Remember, the Christmas Day services will be in the Hut from 10:30-11:30

New Year's Day Service - 10:30am - 1pm

On New Year's Day we will be having a Fellowship Meal and Communion together. We want to start our year off refocusing our identity in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus!

Be thinking of your New Year’s resolutions for 2017:

• What is a personal goal for your walk with God?
• What is a goal you have for your family as you walk with God together?
• What is a goal you have for your involvement in the Queen City Church Family?

Room in the Inn

We are partnering with the YMCA to help with Room in the Inn Jan. 28, Feb. 25, and March 25. We need people to organize dinner and breakfast, people to come spend time with the homeless we will be taking in, people to serve/cook food, etc. Contact Ryan Russell - ryan@qcchurch.com - if you are willing to help!

God Visits People

God Visits People

I'm not sure what you imagine when you read that an angel visits someone in Scripture. It seems like every time an angel meets with someone, they are terrified! There is an obvious presence from God with you in this moment. Take a moment to read the first two chapters of Luke. How does Zechariah respond to a message from God? How does Mary respond? What is Luke communicating with this contrast of response? When Jesus comes into the world, who does Luke present as the first people to receive the Good News? What is their response? 

I was asked once why God doesn't speak to people the way He used to. I questioned if we listen enough to hear God speak. Stopping long enough to listen is a scary notion. If you take time to actually hear God say something...you have to respond.

"I am the light of the world."

"I am the light of the world."

Light is used throughout Scripture in reference to God. The creation story in Genesis 1 begins the great narrative of the Bible with the clear fact that God created light days before creating anything to "produce" that light. What?! Go look! God makes light on the first day! The sun and other stars don't come along till day four! In Revelation 22:5, John informs his readers that there will be no more need for the sun. The light God provides is an all encompassing light. There is NO darkness, not one shadow! 

With that in mind, what does it mean when Jesus says, "You are the light of the world" in Matthew 5:14? What does that mean for your interaction with your neighbors? Coworkers? Etc.?